Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Beyond the Well-Mapped Provinces - well reviewed in SOUTH

The Society's anthology "Beyond the Well-Mapped Provinces" has been well reviewed by SOUTH Magazine, with quotes from poems by Roger Turner, Sheila Spence and Robin Taylor Gilbert, as well as namechecks for Michael Newman and David Ashbee - see below:

Beyond the Well-Mapped Provinces - Cheltenham Poetry Society, £4.99"With a heritage connection to Tennyson and Browning and links to the Cheltenham festivals for poetry and literature, the Cheltenham Poetry Society is a distinguished group. Beyond the Well-Mapped Provinces contains work from ten of its members, two of whom, David Ashbee and Michael Newman, will be familiar to regular readers of SOUTH.This ninety page anthology is beautifully produced. Remarkable value at £4.99, it is a benchmark in self-publishing for other poetry groups. But it is not just the production values that impress - most importantly, the poetry is pretty good too!With each poet represented by five poems, there is enough material to exemplify each individual's interests and style ... and, there is such a variety of subject matter, poems are, by turn, moving or amusing, insightful or reflective.These accomplished poets are masters of their craft; images are unexpected or striking.There is much to recommend in this excellent anthology. Like the Penguin Modern Poets series of the early sixties, this book is a splendid introduction to a group of contemporary poets. It is a poetry collection I'd be happy to recommend to a general reader; a book for anyone to dip into and enjoy".Thank you to Patrick Osada for this review.

About the Society

The Society offers a number of activities on a regular monthly basis (see "What the Society offers"). We also give readings and recitals, hold an annual lecture, organise a summer social event and, for the first time this year, a retreat ('Writing Awayday") to devote a day to our writing and getting to know each other better. We aim to appeal to anyone who is interested in reading or writing poetry and are committed to writing the best poetry we can, informed by what is happening in contemporary poetry generally.